Dylan's Second Birthday Party

Dylan's second birthday was a labor of love. The theme was Rainbows on Sesame Street. My little boy is in love with all of the Sesame Street characters. We did an Elmo second birthday for our oldest, so we did have some things and some ideas. We realized after Owen's second birthday we fell short in the decorating department. We have 7 million Sesame Street things. Why not use our own toys to decorate?! We've been waiting 2 1/2 years for this party! Our house was filled with very close friends and family. It was such a loving celebration of our little man's second birthday. He was the center of attention and had so much fun! A big thank you to Nana for the gift of a small jumpy house we can blow up any time we want!!

The banner came from Etsy. And it is the most adorable banner I've ever seen! I also ordered the Sesame Street cookies from Etsy. I'm creative, but I do not have the patience for royal icing. I ordered labels and signs from Etsy and had them printed locally. We've been collecting paper lanterns in every color for a year or so now. And that made our dining room look so festive. I'm also trying to purchase vinyl tablecloths in every color so I have a nice stock for birthday parties. I'm almost there. I did buy a few decorations from a local party store to supplement. I made the pennant banner, but that was easy (scissors, ric rac, and iron on backing for cut out letters).

My husband made his famous maple meatballs, honey barbeque chicken skewers, quesadillas, and shredded pork barbeque sliders. The food was tasty and went fast. But the dessert table was the crowning jewel. I made chocolate cake balls and coated them in rainbow colors. We had rainbow suckers and rainbow skittles. For Cookie Monster's contribution, we had carmelitas, chocolate chip cookies, and mini s'mores. We also made Trix Krispy Treats and Sesame Street candies using a mold. The absolute labor of love was the cake. We made a seven layer rainbow cake with buttercream between each layer. My husband is the fondant master (on his first ever attempt). He covered the cake in yellow fondant then made a Sesame Street sign, Dylan's name, and the cute little balls around the cake. We used our own Sesame Street toys to decorate and added Crayola candles in honor of Elmo. When we cut the cake I heard a collective gasp between us. It was magical. Dylan loved every part of it and keeps requesting cake and cake balls!

Now we have to somehow manage to equal or top that for Owen's 5th birthday party in April! Six months to plan an awesome Avengers party!

Owen and Lucy

Proves My Point

Man accidentally shoots self in Nevada theater

 Published: Aug 14, 2012

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) - Police say a man accidentally shot himself in the buttocks at a Nevada movie theater during a showing of "The Bourne Legacy."
Police in Sparks, Nev., say the 56-year-old man's injuries are not life-threatening and no others were hurt.
Authorities say the man had a permit to carry a concealed firearm. The man told officers the gun fell from his pocket Tuesday night as he was adjusting himself in the seat and that it discharged when it dropped to the floor.
Authorities say the case will be sent to the city attorney for possible charges.
The incident comes less than a month after a shooting at a suburban Denver theater that left 12 dead and 58 injured.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

 

Seriously people, leave your guns at home. You are a danger to yourself and the rest of us.

Passive-Aggressive Neighbors

The guys who mow our lawn park across the street when they mow. I'm assuming they do this so they can get where they need to mow & edge. Last week I happened to notice they parked in front of the empty lot owned by my across-the-street neighbor. His house is adjacent to the lot. They parked mostly in the street (not on his grass) and used cones to notify drivers they were there. They did not park in front of his house. When they came to mow today, they told us the neighbor called the HOA on them for parking IN FRONT of his EMPTY LOT. Seriously? Why couldn't he come ask us or them to move? I bet we never hear anything from him about it. Such an ass.

FB

Time to stop thinking about my life in Facebook status updates.

Count to 10

Anger is a problem I've had since I was very young. Screaming, hitting, slamming doors were common when I was mad as a child. I've learned to handle my anger better as I've grown up, but I still get mad. And I sometimes get mad just because I'm mad, not because there's anything valid to be mad about. For that and other reasons (stress, anxiety, etc.) I'm trying acupuncture. I've had about six sessions, and I do think it's helping. I'm also taking some "hippie" herbs called Free and Easy Wanderer. But, of course, I still get mad sometimes. Right now I need to count to 10 (or maybe 5,000) to keep myself from dumping a few million fire ants on somebody's yard. I'm working on control. Breathing in and out.

My Dad

My dad died 4 1/2 months ago. He was pretty sick for the last few years and for at least the last year didn't really know who I was. So I think I had pretty much said goodbye to him before he died. But something happened to me when he died. Even though I thought I had dealt with the loss already, I clearly was not ready (is anyone ever) for his death. Mostly I cry when I listen to music that reminds me of him. My dad LOVED music. Really loved music. When I was little we would dance around the house to Greek or Russian music with me on his feet. He taught me how to waltz. He taught me how to love harmonies. For years his gift requests from me would be lists of songs that were often quite obscure. I would scour various internet sources and make him CDs. For Father's Day one year we made him a Greek Feast for dinner and gave him a copy of the Zorba the Greek CD. He was overjoyed. He absolutely loved Simon and Garfunkel (and later Paul Simon's solo work). When we listened to "Cecelia" he always had commentary. When Paul says he came back to bed and someone had taken his place, my dad would always say, "man that's cold." I can't help but laugh when I hear that song and remember him saying that. At his funeral we had a quartet sing "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," which made me cry more than just about anything else. Sometimes when I'm driving, listening to music, I'll just start bawling. I think about everything my dad has missed, everything he will miss, everything I will miss with him, and everything my kids will miss not growing up with him as their grandfather. Tonight we went to dinner with the family for my neice's 8th grade graduation. For some reason, my dad was really on my mind. I was thinking about how proud he would have been. He would have had a smile that wouldn't fade. I was thinking of my boys running around (kind of crazy), and how he would probably put them in his lap, bounce them, and sing to them. He loved to do that with Owen when he was a baby. And I can remember him doing that with other kids, younger cousins and such. I think he would have been a wonderful grandfather to my boys. He would have doted on them (as he did with Owen when he was born). They would have adored him. I wish I could see that. He told Erik once that Erik was such a better dad than he ever was. He complimented him for being so hands-on and involved with our boys. While I do believe Erik is a wonderful dad, I had to tell him how wrong he was. He was the best dad. I can't even imagine a more loving, thoughtful, caring human being. He would literally give you the shirt off his back, all the while teaching you how important it is to be able to support yourself. He never once made me feel like he wasn't proud of me or wished I had made different choices (although he most likely did because I did some pretty stupid things). I just wish he was still here, able to enjoy his family, and we were able to enjoy him.

Some People

I clearly don't understand people. My neighbor (the mother of my son's schoolmate/friend) from an earlier post has done it again. First, she told me she was having her son's party on the day of my son's party. This would be normal, I suppose, if her son's birthday wasn't SIX WEEKS after my son's. When I said I'd already made the invitations, she backed off and chose another date. The party was yesterday. We got the invitation about a month ago, and Erik and I both looked at it. We put the date and time in our phone calendars and recycled the invitation. We talked about whether we would count the party food as dinner or leave a little early and make dinner at home. The invitation said the party was from 4pm until whenever. It actually stated "until whenever." Ultimately we decided to eat there and didn't plan for dinner. We went swimming, lounged around, watched an episode of "Little Einsteins," and left our house to cross the street around 4:05. Not too early, but not late. When we crossed the street and walked into her little cul-de-sac, we noticed that there were about 20 cars already there. We were pretty sure at this point we had missed at least some of the party. We were greeted by her husband (a very kind, friendly person) who told us that the party started at 2pm. At this point I'm pretty pissed, but I'm also second-guessing myself, wondering if I wrote the time down incorrectly. The party was winding down, and the birthday boy (whose birthday is still a few weeks away) had already opened his presents. We arrived in time for cake and about 30 minutes of playing. At 5pm, the jumpy castle company came to take back the castle, and the family started folding up tables and chairs. So this party clearly wasn't "until whenever." This was my confirmation as my husband and I both remember clearly remember reading those words. So she intentionally gave us the wrong time. Why? Even if she doesn't like me, why would she do that to my kid? The level of calousness is just beyond me.

Pro-Gun!!!

Yep. This is a sign on a road near my house. Never mind that ever since the sign went up, I think about Tom Riddle (aka Lord Voldermort) from Harry Potter every time I see it. But the dude has recently added the "Pro Gun" part to the sign. First, we live in Texas. Pretty sure nobody gets elected in this state running on an anti-gun platform. So it's clear to me that this guy is attempting to insinuate that Democrats are trying to take away your guns. Second, love that he says on his sign he's for faith and freedom. Is he meaning his opposition is an atheist? Is is opponent against freedom? This whole Republican move to put themselves out there as the party who will protect your faith, family, freedom and guns pisses me off. It's a scare tactic only hoping to anger regular Americans. Hoping to scare them into voting for Republicans because Democrats are atheist, anti-family, communist radicals who are coming to pry that gun out of your hand as we speak.

2am Choices

Puppy to pee in yard with sprinklers going off.

Ibuprofen to baby who has been awake for an hour chatting. Same baby went to bed last night at 6pm after puking, eating no dinner. because of said puking, and running a 103.7 temp (which had dropped a degree within 30 minutes of medicine being taken).

I chose the puppy. Husband is still rocking the baby. Bad Mommy.